Young Tree's Budding
by Mr. Spinner
Summary: Based on the recent revelation of the New-Era Moegi's signature jutsu, revealed in Boruto Vol. 4. My ideas on how it revealed itself, and some of the events that transpired from it. One-shot. Read and review.


**Many of us were surprised by the stats for Moegi's ninja skills, released with Boruto Vol. 4. Mostly with her signature skills. That got me thinking, and wondering, and theorizing. And this little gem came as a result!**

 **With that, I present ...**

 **The Young Tree's Budding**

"If I didn't know you, I'd say this was some kind of joke."

The Sixth Hokage, Kakashi Hatake, sat with steepled fingers at his office desk. Under his laidback, calculating gaze squirmed the Special Jonin Ebisu. Ebisu swallowed thickly, the bob of his adam's apple the only indication of any nervousness.

"Just because my student has a penchant for practical jokes," he said, "does not mean I share it, Hokage-sama." His response was even, his voice level. He may have been nervous, but he was clearly being truthful. Kakashi nodded to concede the point.

"And you remain steadfast with your report?" he asked.

"Would I report such a thing if I were anything but certain?" Ebisu asked. Another point; seemed Ebisu was on a roll this morning.

Kakashi sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Alright. Tell me exactly, down to the smallest detail, what happened."

Ebisu nodded and began his verbal report.

* * *

Less than four hours before, Ebisu stood atop one of the large stakes at Training Ground Three, his shaded eyes tracking each of his students with a professional focus for detail.

It had been a year-and-a-half since the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War. In that time, Konoha had been rebuilt from the Invasion of Pain to be better than it had been before. Both in infrastructure, and in shinobi. True, the demand for soldiers was all-but-nonexistent with the peace that had been bought in blood and death, but shinobi were still in demand to hunt down bandits, as hired guards and escorts, and other such tasks.

And, with the demand persisting, training persisted as well.

Ebisu's gaze flicked to his oldest student breathing fire on a large boulder. He may not prefer it, but Konohamaru would always be the Honored Grandson to him. And since the War had ended, he had seen nothing but improvement from the boy. Perhaps simple maturation was a part of it, but Ebisu had a feeling it was the mass funeral afterward that had further stoked the fires of the boy's determination, just as the deaths of his grandfather and uncle had done.

Since the War's end, Konohamaru had taken an interest in his own clan's hiden techniques. He had pestered Ebisu for three days straight ( _damn_ those pesky Shadow Clones) before being allowed to test for his chakra affinity. Naturally, for a Sarutobi, he had revealed an affinity for fire.

Since then, in addition to refining his Rasengan and improving his standard shinobi skills, Konohamaru had tackled and mastered Asuma's Burning Ash Technique, the Sarutobi Clan's Great Flame Technique, and his grandfather's Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique (appropriate, given his first and favorite jutsu). And with said Shadow Clones, and a lower-scale version of his "big brother's" training technique, he had mastered these jutsu with remarkable speed.

Next, Ebisu studied Udon as he methodically struck a training dummy, briefly thanking whatever deity would listen that the boy had finally cleared up his childhood sinus problem. Udon was far and away the least confrontational of the trio. As luck would have it, he had an astounding natural penchant for genjutsu. A penchant that he had cultivated with a remarkable passion. Remarkable, at least, for him.

In addition to his illusions and learning to use the staff that hung on his back, Udon had revealed a rather strong chakra affinity for earth. In key with his personality, Udon had focused more on defensive jutsu, such as the Earth-Style Wall, Rock-Pillar Prison, and the Hiding-Like-a-Mole Technique. He was, surprisingly enough, particularly fond on the Head Hunter Technique.

Lastly, Ebisu focused on Moegi, who was practicing her marksmanship. If he were honest with himself, Moegi worried him the most. Not because she was weak, far from it, but because she lacked any ... defining skill. She was above-average in hand-to-hand and weapon-based combat, but used no specific weapon. Her chakra levels were slightly above-average, her genjutsu passable, and her use of her water affinity were also above-average.

And yet she still showed no characteristics that _stood out_ , that differentiated her file from the rest of Konaha's shinobi.

In an effort to combat this, Ebisu had begun teaching her Earth Release, with assistance from Udon. Ebisu fully intended to enroll his team in the next Chunin Exams, and a second affinity was rare enough among Genin that it might give her an edge.

Speaking of which …

"Udon!" Ebisu called, drawing said student's attention, "sneak attack on Moegi!" Ebisu had drilled his students to be ready to test their fellows at any time, an excellent method to sharpen their instincts. Both in defense, and in sudden attack.

Without a word, and barely a nod, Udon cycled through the hand seals for Flying Thrown Stones, slamming his hands to the ground to initiate. Moegi, on sheer impulse, leapt to avoid the hail of stones and tossed a handful of shuriken. A quick rock wall protected him, and the sudden spar continued.

Unbeknownst to both, Ebisu lowered his glasses and caught Konohamaru's eye, giving a faint twitch of the head in the pair's direction. A subtle nod was his answer, and the boy prepared a group of Shadow Clones to unleash his own onslaught.

Within mere minutes, Moegi was fighting off, not only Udon, but Konohamaru and a half-dozen his Shadow Clones. The instructor tracked Moegi closely, ready to intervene should it become necessary. For now, he held himself back. Just as pressure hardened carbon into diamond , so too did it harden the spirit.

For a time, the spar continued on as usual. It was a Rasengan from Konohamaru, no different than any other aside from coming from above, that triggered something they could have never expected.

Moegi dodged a kunai slash from Udon, only to see Konohamaru coming down at her. It was familiar, one of his favorite tactics … and still, after all this time, absolutely terrifying. She knew what that jutsu could do, had seen it countless times. Intellectually, she knew an Earth Wall was her best bet (thank you, Udon, for teaching her first defensive jutsu). But her instincts strove toward a water technique.

Without thinking, the two chakra natures arose together, earth in one hand and water in the other. With a cry of exertion and defiance, she clapped her hands into the Snake seal … and tendrils burst forth from the ground to shield her. Without thinking, she dodged out of the way, shielding her eyes from flying debris of the Rasengan impact.

Moegi landed in a roll and flipped to her feet, kunai in hand and breath heavy. Only to find her teammates frozen with shock, gazes shifting from her to the remains her jutsu. What was wrong with them? What-?

Only then did Moegi realize what they were staring at, what Ebisu's jaw had fallen open about. The training ground was shattered, its surface broken by her jutsu. But rather than earthen walls … she had summoned huge, wooden, roots.

Predictably, Konohamaru was the first to break free of his shock. "Holy sh-"

* * *

Ebisu chose to omit his student's exclamation. Unnecessary detail. Besides, he had made his point, most likely _confirming_ suspicions that the Hokage had already been nursing.

Kakashi hummed in thought. "Unbelieveable," he said. Understatement, but what're you gonna do? "You checked her familial records, I presume?"

"I found no connection to the Senju," Ebisu reported, "but given the clan's status, that doesn't mean much. For all we know, there could be just enough high in the family tree to grant such a thing."

"Or, perhaps, it wasn't a mark of the Senju, after all," Kakashi mused.

"Sir?" Ebisu asked, confused by the statement.

"Hashirama Senju was the only recorded user of the Wood Release," Kakashi explained. "As such, historians have always associated it with his own clan. But it is possible that it was a fluke, a coincidence. Perhaps the first was just that lucky." He leaned back in his chair. "If that is the case, then so is this girl. But whether a product of fortune, genes, or a combination thereof, the results are the same."

"My student bears the Wood Release," Ebisu summed up. One of the most sought-after powers of any shinobi in history, and _his student_ bore it naturally. He waited a few moments for the Hokage to say more before pushing. "What would you have me do, sir?" That was the real question, after all.

"What would you prefer?" Kakashi asked calmly.

Ebisu actually took a step back in surprise. Frankly, he would prefer to remain her instructor. Moegi was _his_ student, just as much as Udon or even Konohamaru. He wanted to help her as best he could, to watch as she made him proud, as she undoubtedly would even had this revelation never come to the light of day.

But as a professional, both shinobi and instructor, he knew that he was not qualified to remain her teacher. He knew little about Wood Release, and all of that was rumor and what little he had seen of the battlefield during the Fourth War. He was, for the first time, out of his depth as an instructor.

"Though it pains me, I will turn her over to a new instructor," he answered.

"You wish to relinquish her?" Kakashi asked. He almost sounded … surprised.

"What I wish does not matter," Ebisu explained. "What matters is what is best for her." After all, that was the highest calling of a teacher. To do what was best for their students. Guess this meant he'd have to interview temporary teammates for the Chunin Exams, as well.

"I couldn't agree more," Kakashi replied. Here it comes … "Which is why you will remain her primary instructor." Of course, he'd- wait, what?

"Sir?" Ebisu asked. Surely he'd heard wrong. A lapse of hearing in a moment of weakness.

"You will remain her primary instructor," Kakashi repeated. "Her standard skills and teamwork will remain your field of training." The Hokage gave a sharp whistle, and a familiar Jonin appeared in a whirl of smoke. "Her training in Wood Release will be overseen by Yamato" said Jonin nodded with a small, affable smile, "but she is your student, through-and-through."

Ebisu gaped, quite unprofessionally he would later realize, at his superior and pulled off his shades in surprise. "Why?" he asked. It was all he could muster.

"I was a Jonin instructor once, too, if you'll recall," Kakashi said. "And, like a fool, I spent all my time training only one of my team when the others needed it, as well. Sure, I may have been the only one qualified for that specific student, and everything worked out, but the point still stands." Kakashi's eyes, the old and the newly returned, focused on Ebisu's own. "Moegi needs a sense of familiarity during all of this. She'll need her friends … and her teacher." He leaned back with the suggestion of a smile under his mask.

"If that's everything, I suggest you two get together to hash out her training schedule." He waved his hand in dismissal. "Now get out, I have work to do."

The duo of Jonin did as they were told, one grinning and the other still gaping.

* * *

The next morning, the sun had barely crept above the treeline when the so-called "Konohamaru Corps" arrived at the isolated Training Ground Ninety-Nine, otherwise known as the "No Man's Ground". So named for the fact that it was so isolated from the village, it might as well be distinct, a part of the countryside.

Udon had been the first to arrive, leaning against the stone monolith carved with the training ground's name, a lantern placed on top as a joke to guide lost souls back to the village proper. As he leaned against the pillar, gaze sweeping over the boulder-strewn ground broken only by copses of trees, he couldn't help but think of what had happened the day before.

At first, like everyone else, Udon had been stunned. No, wait, stunned didn't quite cover it. He had been blindsided - sure, that would work. Udon had easily been the most studious of his friends in the Academy (not that that was difficult, really, especially compared to Konohamaru) and had recognized what he had seen immediately. At least as far as his frozen brain could recognize it at the time.

Wood Release, the famed and envied Bloodline Trait of the First Hokage. Udon was smart enough to realize that the Wood Release was only a contributing factor to Hashirama's overall unbelievable power - his clan had been famed as the clan of one thousand skills, after all - but it was still a major factor.

And Moegi had somehow manifested it.

After "the event", and the team-wide "clean-up duty" of the evidence, Ebisu-sensei had called an immediate end to the training day and sent them all home, forcing them to swear secrecy of what they had seen. Rather than returning home, Udon had as nonchalantly as possible gone to the library and read up on the First Hokage. Most of what he had read he had been tempted to dismiss as legend and exaggeration by time, but the reports of the Fourth War had proven otherwise. If anything, the legends failed to capture the full scale of the First's power.

As snippets of those reports emerged from his memory, Udon couldn't help but smile. He had shared Ebisu's misgivings about Moegi's career, lightly amplified by his concern as her friend. And his feelings for her that were … more than friendship. But with the emergence of such a sought-after power, there was no doubt that she would soon be showered with potential missions, clients from around the nations fighting tooth-and-nail to hire the one who wielded the power of Wood Release.

Udon's musings were interrupted by the uncharacteristically quiet arrival of Konohamaru. He nodded, something about the upcoming meeting seeming to demand silence, and Kono had replied with a mere wave. As Udon settled back against the stone signpost, Konohamaru had time to think about yesterday's event.

His first response, other than an unholy wave of shock, had been a twinge of jealousy. How did it happen that everyone (and by everyone, he mostly meant big brother Naruto) got all kinds of genetic awesomeness while he was left in the dust of the gene pool.

After a few moments, he had realized exactly how immature and unfair those feelings were and squished them down like an inerrant cockroach. It was pointless to be jealous of Moegi for something she could not have foreseen (case-in-point, no one had seen this coming). And besides, he was more than lucky in the genetics department. He was part of a powerful clan, and grandson of a freaking Hokage! Granted, he didn't like that little detail most of the time, but it was still a good point in heritage.

The feeling to take the place of jealousy was a swell of pride in his teammate and joy. Though he acted like an idiot sometimes, Konohamaru was far from dumb. In fact, sometimes he could be quite smart. He, too, had noticed Moegi's lack of defining skills. This would easily solve that problem. Moegi was, tied with Udon, Konohamaru's oldest friend, and he couldn't be more happy for her.

Of course, he also had some misgivings. He was aware to some degree of the various attempts at replicating the First's power. Yamato (thanks for the info, Naruto), Danzo, even reports of Madara Uchiha and the undead Hashirama himself. And, naturally, Orochimaru's horrifying experiments. With this new power, moegi had earned more than a method to grow _uniquely_ strong. She may have earned a target on her back for rivals and power-hungry psychos.

But, to him, that just meant he and the rest of the team would have to help her master her power as soon as possible. And until she grew strong enough to defend herself from all the crazies out there, they would have her back!

After a good half-hour, Moegi herself arrived. Both boys immediately picked up on her nervous body language. The hugging herself was a red flag, even to Konohamaru. Clearly, she had her own misgivings about all of this.

"Hey, Moegi," Konohamaru said, still quieter than normal. Udon greeted her as well, and the two fell into position on either side of her to offer support.

"You okay?" Udon asked.

Moegi swallowed thickly before slowly shaking her head. "What's gonna happen?" she asked. "I mean, you've all heard the stories. What are they gonna do to me?" Both boys looked at her with questioning eyes, clearly not following her question. Ugh, boys!

"What if they take me away to train me in secret?" she demanded. "What if they take me to a lab as a guinea pig? Or, at best, what if they take me off the team?!" She was almost shouting now, a full night's worth of imaginative scenarios coming out.

Udon placed a hand on her shoulder, eyes steady. "That's not gonna happen," he said. The words were simple, but they rang with a promise.

"Udon's right," konohamaru said. "If they want to take you, they're gonna have to go through us!" He grinned in the face of such a grim notion. "And if they do that, they'll have to deal with the Boss!"

That, at least, eased Moegi's nerves. Her friends wouldn't leave her, and they likely had the backing of one of the most powerful ninja in history. Moegi took a deep breath to calm down and chuckled.

"You're right," she said, grabbing them both in a headlock. "Nothing's breaking up this team!"

"I'm glad you agree," Ebisu said, appearing in a burst of smoke. "Because the hokage has agreed, as well." The trio looked at their instructor with wide eyes. "He has agreed that moegi shall remain a part of the team," he held up an index finger, "but he has assigned a secondary tutor for her." He grinned. "One suited to teach her about her new abilities."

The trio turned, weapons at the ready, at the sound of creaking wood. A tree rose from the ground a few feet away, and out stepped a lean figure in ANBU attire and a happuri-style forehead protector.

"Greetings, Team Ebisu," he said calmly. "Call me Yamato."

The team in question looked to each other, all with identical smiles. Things were looking up!

* * *

 **-Six Months Later-**

As Ebisu had claimed, the team remained mostly the same. Missions were the same, with Moegi only allowed to showcase her budding control over plants in specially-granted circumstances. Ebisu had explained that it was to prevent the spread of gossip about her power until she had enough skill to deflect … unfriendly consequences.

As her skills had grown under Yamato's patient tutelage, Ebisu had signed them up for the next available Chunin Exams. The second phase, a survival mission simulation in the Forest of Death, had been uniquely suited to her new skillset.

It was during the tournament-style Third Exam that she had been able to make the "announcement" of her skill. She had risen to the finals with more mundane jutsu (two chakra natures had certainly helped) and faced down a genin from Kumo in her first match. In any other circumstances, a Lightning Release user would have been a bad match for her. But Yamato's intensive training over the last month had been with the promise that she was ready to show what she was made of.

Naturally, when she had countered his jutsu with the famed Bloodline Trait of the first hokage, it had thrown her opponent off his game. She still got a laugh out of the memory of the color draining from his face at the sight of her trees. The guy had fought well, but he was no match for her. She may not have won the championship (that had surprisingly gone to a genin from the Land of Rain) but she had made it to the final three matches.

And despite the loss, her entire team made Chunin!

And that brought her back to the present, to her team's celebration at their three-fold promotion. Ebisu had even invited Yamato, who was happy to join them. The group were trading stories and jokes of the famous Akimichi Barbeque, highlighting their favorite parts of the Exams, and overall having a blast.

And overall, Moegi knew she wouldn't have traded this, any of this, for the world.

* * *

 **-Thirteen Years Later-**

Moegi, three years a Jonin, stood before her first genin squad. When the names had been announced, she had been surprised that Konohamaru hadn't been assigned to this team, given the tradition of a Sarutobi leading the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. But the hokage had been adamant in his decision, preferring to try something different rather than blindly follow tradition.

Personally, she thought it was just an excuse to have Kono teach his son. Meh, whatever.

The formalities were out of the way, so now it was time for their final test. Moegi lifted a pair of bells to show her prospective team. "Whoever gets a bell passes," she said. "I suggest you come at me with intent to kill, otherwise you'll never come close." She grinned at the fire that burned in two of her students' eyes. The third didn't seem to care, but she knew he wouldn't disappoint.

Needless to say, the surrounding forest was much altered before any of them got their bells.

 **-FIN-**

 **What do y'all think. It's just a one-shot, but it captures some of the potential plot points if the Boruto series gives any focus on this. Of course, not doing so would waste an awesome short arc.**

 **Leave a review if you liked it! I love hearing from you guys!**


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